A New Need for Speed Is Bringing the Series Back to Its Roots

Need for Speed is one of the most successful arcade racing franchises. The series is over twenty years old, yet EA continues to release new installments almost every year. Yesterday, EA released a teaser image announcing a new untitled Need for Speed. Today, we learned the title of the game is simply Need for Speed, and it sounds like it will be a spiritual successor to Need for Speed: Underground 2.

Many gamers would argue that Underground 2 was the peak of the series. It has good mechanics, great customization, and a true street racing feel. Since then, EA has seemed to put more of an emphasis on the arcade and police mechanics of the game. This has left a hole in the hearts of many fans since the game worlds were never quite immersive as Underground.

Luckily, EA wants to completely reboot the franchise having it return to its street racing roots. The initial teaser trailer did not give us much information on the game other than a good looking engine. Fortunately, Eurogamer was able to talk with the developers, Ghost Games, and get some information on the game.

One of the biggest things that the developers seem to be stressing is how the game will be a true testament to car culture and longtime Need for Speed fans. Ghost Games is working closely with the Speed Hunters, a real life car community, to make the game world seem like a real street racing environment. One of the biggest contributions to this environment will be the all new type of narration. The story mode is meant to be truly engaging yet still have scenarios based on the real racing world. Ghost Games also wants to focus on the customization of cars, as this is obviously very important in any racing scene. The in depth customization will not only affect the looks, but affect performance and handling. This amount of customization gives players the option of how they want the game to play, arcade or realistic.

To house the captivating storyline, the game will take place in a “nocturnal open world.” This means the game is entirely set at night and is completely open to roam around. AllDrive from Rivals is also making a return, making the world seem even more alive. There hasn’t been a confirmed location for the game world, but there are images of California license plates which suggest this is the state the game takes place in.

Need for Speed is currently planned to release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, but not the last generation consoles. There has been no confirmed date yet, but it is expected to release later this fall. If you want to hear more about the game, you’re going to have to wait until E3, which is taking place June 15th.

Update: After some tweets by Need for Speed and people involved with the game, we have learned even more about the game. The biggest piece of information is that the game will run on the same version of the Frostbite engine as Star Wars: Battlefront. Frostbite is known to be one of the most impressive-looking engines out there, so there is no doubt Need for Speed will also be aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, it looks like the game will be a Origin exclusive on PC.

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